Hunter
This article is a description of the character class '''Hunter'. For a description of the role of hunters within the lore of Warcraft, see Hunter (lore). ''For related articles, see Category:Hunters. =Overview= The Hunter is a vicious damage dealer, but mainly at range. To assist them, Hunters have pets which can add to the damage being inflicted against the enemy and can assist in managing aggro. Hunters track, tame, and slay all manner of animals and beasts found in the wild. Whether they rely on bows or firearms, Hunters consider their weapons and pets to be their only true friends. *The Hunter is a specialist at taming the wild beasts of Azeroth, training them to fight at their side. The Hunter and the Warlock are the only two classes that can handle combat pets. The Hunter is also the only class that can name their pets. *The Hunter excels in outdoor survival skills, such as tracking and laying traps. They can deal moderate melee damage. However, they are built for ranged attack using a bow, gun or crossbow. *The Hunter is only capable of wearing leather and cloth armour to start with; at level 40, they also gain access to Mail armor. Most Hunters start with an axe or dagger and either a gun or bow; with training they can learn almost any other weapon skills. *The Hunter has limited magical abilities which require mana, such as pet healing or special shots such as Aimed Shot, but their mana pools are not as large as the more dedicated spell casters such as the Mage. *The Hunter cannot shapeshift like a Druid; however, they can take on various Animal Aspects which grant special abilities such as increased dodge or improved run speed or even resistance to nature will help you down the road in dungeons such as AQ40. Races The Hunter class can be played by the following races: Alliance *Dwarves *Night Elves *Draenei ''(Draenei are not playable until the release of the 'The Burning Crusade' expansion) Horde *Orcs *Tauren *Trolls *Blood Elves (Blood Elves are not playable until the release of the 'The Burning Crusade' expansion) =Talents and Abilities= Hunters have a vast range of talents and abilities. These can be roughly categorised into the following: Ranged Fighting Ranged fighting will mean making a choice between a gun, bow or a crossbow. When starting, this will depend on your race. Dwarves and Tauren will be given guns, whilst the other races get bows. Later on though, you can train in the other ranged weapon types too. Guns use shot, while bows and crossbows use arrows. At the moment, there are no bowyer or fletcher professions, which means that archers will rely on shop vendors, mob drops and quests for purchasing their bows and arrows. Thorium Shells are made by engineers, and are the best ammo that you can supply yourself with practically. They can be turned into Thorium Headed Arrows by an NPC inside the inn close to the Ironforge bank, or in Orgrimmar. Technically, Doomshot and Miniature Cannon Balls are the best ammunition in the game, but they are only available as drops off instance bosses and aren't practical to use all the time. Guns and shot can both be made by engineers, which opens up the choices a little more. Whichever you choose, try to get a scope (made by engineers) to increase the damage, and buy the best ammunition you can afford. For further information see the Hunter Tactics page. Melee Fighting When in battle, try to stay at range. In PvE, your pet can taunt enemies for you to keep their attention, using the growl pet skill. In PvP battle you will have to rely on your other abilities, such as laying traps and using Wing Clip. Hunters can also Raptor Strike for additional melee damage but it is still not viable for sustained damage compared to their ranged abilities. Combat Pets Pets are the most important tools in the hands of a hunter. They serve as aggro-management (Thoug should it be noticed, that at higer levels pets can/will have a hard time holding this aggro) additional DPS and tanking. They are mostly used in PVE (and in case of Beast-Mastery hunters, in PVP and sometimes in raids). A range of different types of beast can be tamed and offer a different set of available active skills (there are special abilities just for wolves, just for cats, etc). In addition, certain pet types are tanking oriented (such as bears), and others are DPS oriented (such as cats and owls). Combined with the diversty of armor, stamina and resistence buffs, it allows quite a great deal of customability. Many hunters have dedicated pets for Molten Core, PVP, tanking, and so on. Hunters can start taming pets at level 10 by completing a short series of quests. They are able to control the pet through various commands. Although hunters can only have one active pet at a time, stables can be used to house additional pets. As different pets can have different abilities, sometimes one pet may be better than another in different situations. See more at Hunter's pets. Traps Hunters have 4 different types of traps availble for use. *Freezing Trap - A trap that freezes the first enemy that approaches, preventing all action for a limited time (time frozen depends on rank). Any damage caused will break the ice. *Frost Trap - A trap that creates an ice slick around itself for 30 sec when the first enemy approaches it. All enemies within 10 yards will be slowed by 60% while in the area of effect. *Immolation Trap - A trap that will burn the first enemy to approach for Fire damage over 15 sec. (Damage depends on rank) *Explosive Trap - A trap that explodes when an enemy approaches, causing Fire damage and additional Fire damage over 20 sec to all within 10 yards. (Damage depends on rank) Aspects Hunters have 6 Aspects at their disposal. *Aspect of the Monkey - Increases chance to dodge by 8% (Requires Level 4) *Aspect of the Hawk - Increases ranged attack power (amount depends on rank) (Requires Level 10) *Aspect of the Cheetah - Increases run speed by 30%, dazed when takes direct damage (Requires Level 20) *Aspect of the Beast - Becomes untrackable (Requires Level 30) *Aspect of the Pack - Increases run speed of the party by 30%, dazed when takes direct damage (Requires Level 40) *Aspect of the Wild - Adds nature resistance to all nearby party members (amount depends on rank) (Requires Level 46) Tracking Hunters can track different types of mobs. *Track Beasts -- Requires Level 2 *Track Humanoids -- Requires Level 10 *Track Undead -- Requires Level 18 *Track Hidden -- Requires Level 24 *Track Elementals -- Requires Level 26 *Track Demons -- Requires Level 32 *Track Giants -- Requires Level 40 *Track Dragonkin -- Requires Level 50 Hunter Talents Talents are a way to specialise your character by enhancing your skills and/or learning new skills. From level 10 onwards you will receive a talent point every time you gain a level. There are three categories for Hunter Talents: *Beast Mastery *Marksmanship *Survival For further information see Hunter Talents and Hunter Talent Discussion. Level by Level Hunter Enhancements Level 1 Survival: Raptors Strike (rank 1) Level 2 Survival: Track Beasts Level 4 Beast Mastery: Aspect of the Monkey Marksmenship: Serpert Sting (rank 1) Level 6 Marksmenship Arcane Shot (rank 1) Hunters Mark (rank 1) Level 8 Marksmenship Concussive Shot Survival Raptors Strike (rank 2) Level 10 Marksmenship Serpent Sting (rank 2) Survival Track Humanoids Beast Mastery Aspect of the Hawk (rank 1) Level 12 Marksmenship Arcane Shot (rank 2) Distracting Shot Survival Wing Clip (rank 1) Beast Mastery Mend Pet (rank 1) Level 14 Marksmenship none Survival none Beast Mastery Eagle Eye Eyes of the Beast Scare Beast (rank 1) Level 16 Marksmenship none Survival Immolation Trap (rank 1) Mongoose Bite (rank 1) Raptor Strike (rank 1) Beast Mastery none Level 18 Marksmenship Multi-Shot (rank 1) Survival Track Undead Beast Mastery Aspect of the Hawk (rank 2) Mend Pet (rank 2) =Attributes= Armor Hunters can use Cloth Armor and Leather Armor. At level 40 they can use Mail Armor too, after training. Hunter Armor Sets The Hunter's Armor sets are as follows: * Beaststalker Armor (Tier 0) * Beastmaster Armor (Tier 0.5) * Giantstalker Armor (Tier 1) * Dragonstalker Armor (Tier 2) * Cryptstalker Armor (Tier 3) * Predator's Armor (Zul'Gurub, requires Zandalar Tribe reputation) * Trappings of the Unseen Path (Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj, requires Cenarion Circle reputation) * Striker's Garb (Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, requires Brood of Nozdormu reputation) Weapons Hunters are capable of learning how to use Bows, Guns, Crossbows, Thrown Weapons, Daggers, Axes, Fist Weapons, Swords, Polearms, Staves, Two-Handed Axes, Two-Handed Swords. The only weapons they cannot use are Wands and both one-handed and two-handed Maces. Which ones you'll start out with depends on the race you choose, but you can expect one ranged weapon and one melee weapon skill to start out with. To learn others, go to weapon trainers in the major cities. Upon reaching level 20, Hunters can learn the skill Dual Wield. A comprehensive list of the best ranged weapons a Hunter can use at level 60 along with detailed information about them (up to date as of patch 1.10 when Hunters have been normalized) can be found at http://www.groovylick.com/wow/28nerf2.gif. A comprehensive list of the best melee weapons a Hunter can use at level 60 along with detailed information about their effect on ranged damage can be found at http://wow.stoneform.org/hunterweapons.jpg. A derivation of the above hunter weapon link is also available at these two places, one is for Hunters with Lightning Reflexes (the +15% agility talent) http://hometown.aol.com/tahlvain/Surv.html and one for hunters without Lightning Reflexes http://hometown.aol.com/tahlvain/Marks.html. Starting Stats Attribute Conversions Following statistics are based on all (patch 1.12.x) level 60 hunters with both melee and range skills at 300. Levels below 60 also apply. 53.00 Agility = +1% Critical 26.50 Agility = +1% Dodge 55.00 Intellect = +1% Spell Critical 10 Strength is equal to: 10 Melee AP +2 Melee Damage 10 Agility is equal to: +20 Range AP +10 Melee AP +20 AC +4 Range Damage 10 Stamina = 105 Health 10 Intellect = 150 Mana 10 Spirit = +17 Mana per tick Note: Confirmation needed on Intellect versus Arcane Shot critical chance, and even if intellect does affect it. Also for Agility versus Critical and Dodge (It has been debated that it is anywhere from 52.5 to 53 and 26.25 to 26.5.) My 60 Tauren shows exactly 53 agility per crit and 26.5 per dodge in all scenarios. Please confirm. --Dracoix 19:32, 27 September 2006 (EDT) =Things hunters should remember= Always keep an eye on your bullets or arrows; you don't want to run out of ammo in the middle of a fight. In instances, hunters have the unique ability to remove all the threat they have generated on a target via Feign Death. Use this ability often, especially in an instance like Molten Core. Feign Death is best used to prevent yourself from pulling aggro, not to drop it after you gain aggro. As a hunter, you shoot through a lot of bullets or arrows in a short time. It's more cost-effective to buy your bullets or arrows at a vendor than to craft or buy them on the auction house. At level 60, it's more cost-effective to buy Accurate Slugs or Jagged Arrows for normal fights and "normal" mobs in instances, while carrying some Thorium Shells or Thorium Headed Arrows for boss battles. Hunters that have acquired Honored reputation with their side's Alterac Valley faction can purchase the more powerful Ice Threaded Bullet and Ice Threaded Arrow from the supply officer. Being Revered with the aforementiond faction will also allow you to purchase the Gnoll Skin Bandolier and Harpy Hide Quiver, which are very nice pre-raid assets. The bandolier is the best ammo pouch in the game, and the quiver is second only to the Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina. Pets are nice, but keep a close eye on them; one wrong click can very well get you - and the party - killed. The "OMG HUNTER LOOT" joke exists for a reason. Don't forget that you share your gear class with many other classes, both before and beyond level 40. It's very unlikely you're the only person who needs any given drop. Even with ranged weapons, you'll get lots of competition for your gear. Hunters can learn to use every weapon in the game except Maces, Wands, and Shields. Don't assume because you "can" use something, that you "need" to. =End-Game Expectations= The Hunter is usually the primary puller in Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, etc. One of their pets should have a decent amount of Fire Resist. You will be Feigning Death a lot, and be a valueable asset to the raid for long ranged DPS. =See also= See Starting a Hunter for some advice when starting out. See the Hunter Category for further information on the Hunter class. See Hunter PvP Tactics for PvP advice. See Hunter Talent Discussion for information on common Hunter Talent Builds. See Hunter resist guide for advice on choosing and getting resistance gear. Some good info at the official WoW forums: *Please Read FAQ links and Beast information *Pet pursuit/approach speed list Other links: *Good Intentions pet abilities table *Petopia *TKA Something ---- Category:Hunters Category:Hunter Abilities Category:Dwarves Category:Night Elves Category:Orcs Category:Trolls Category:Tauren Category:Horde classes Category:Alliance classes